It's About Time

Two cuties from my Nepali church. 

Going rafting with my roommate and some friends. 

Because of the petrol shortage we had to ride on top of the bus. Gotta love new adventures.

Meeting up with my college friends Akshat and Amit while enjoying live Nepali music and sharing stories.

Taking full advantage of the photo booth at the staff Christmas social.

A Nepali teacher at our school's son got married, so a lot of us got dressed up and went to the wedding. There was lots of dancing, food, and great company, so it was a great time or as they say in Nepali "ramaillo bhayo"!

One of the boys from my Nepali church who danced during the Christmas program. I love the mustaches and goatees they gave all the young boys.

Riding on top of buses, rafting down rivers, hundreds of vehicles stalled in line for petrol, dancing around bonfires and seeing God’s love for this people grow, there’s my update. Haha...just kidding. I’ll elaborate a tiny bit more. Wow, so it’s been almost five months since I’ve written and more and more things keep happening. Then I postpone writing, because I’m overwhelmed with everything that’s happened, so I’m finally hunkering down and doing it.

Here's the not so short and pretty sweet. Teaching at KISC has been absolutely amazing and I love the staff there and the students. I am still taking Nepali lessons and working on becoming acclimated with the culture. My favorite Nepali blunder was when I tried repeating what a Nepali said and instead said, “Ma kera sanga biha garnu parcha?”, which translates to “I should get married to a banana?” They were trying to say I should get married to a Nepali guy or a “keta” not a banana. Whew, thank goodness. I don’t really like bananas.

To say a lot has happened to Nepal in the last eight months would be an understatement. An abnormally ridiculous amount of things have happened to Nepal in the last eight months. Starting with two earthquakes and then towards the end of September they finally finalized their constitution. That led to a minority group becoming infuriated with the government and joining forces with India to create a blockade, not allowing any petrol or goods into the country for three months. Industries have shut down. People don’t have gas to cook food with. Petrol is selling on the black market for 350Rs/liter which is the equivalent to $15/gallon.  Buses and cars are parked in lines that stretch for miles waiting for petrol. People are waiting eight hours for the hope of getting cooking gas and paying 4-5 times more for it. The country has been in a little bit of a chaotic mess.

As for me, I’ve been more than blessed and God has really been good. I haven't been nearly as affected by all that's going on compared to others. On the brighter side, it's been great getting to meet up with some Stout friends that have come to visit. I got to go on a rafting trip which was really fun with some friends from my school. The volleyball league was such a great opportunity to build relationships with some of the Nepali staff at my school, but we had to end it because the land we were playing on got sold. I attended a LIFE group through church which was really great and got some good fellowship. I started getting involved with the youth group at my English church. I was able to attend a Nepali wedding and dance to my heart's content. I performed a piano piece at a Christmas concert and had an amazing Christmas time here with my Nepali church. Whew. That's practically it. 

Nepali's Very Own Epcot

After thirty-eight hours of plane rides and layovers, I finally landed in this beautiful country, which I will be calling home for the next two+ years. I arrived on Sunday, July 20th and started my orientation Monday, July 21st (not recommended) with the help of numerous cups of coffee and tea. I am working at KISC, Kathmandu International Study Centre, which is an international Christian school. I am teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to Grades 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9. Also I started a volleyball league at the school with the staff, which I am SUPER jazzed about. I have only been teaching for two weeks, but it has been really good so far. The students and staff come from so many different countries it makes it feel like a real life version of Disney's Epcot. Just in the couple of weeks I've been here, some crazy God things have happened that I wanted to share with you:

Crazy Story #1: My parents had a friend from their church, who is a professor at the U of M, ask if they would be willing to invite one of his students who is from Nepal for dinner. My parents gladly agreed and had him over for dinner. After talking with him, my parents realized he is a Christian and that his two children attend KISC and one of them is even in my class!

Crazy Story #2: I was talking to one of the other Nepali staff workers from KISC and he was asking me where I was from. I told him I was from Minnesota and asked him if he knew where that was and he said he had been there before. I was surprised. He said that he travelled from Michigan to Wisconsin and then to Minnesota. I asked him if he visited Milwaukee, but he replied, "No, it was just a small town, Stout." I about fell out of my chair! I asked him what he was doing at Stout and he mentioned he was visiting his friends, Dpac and Hemnish, then I told him that they were friends of mine as well! Crazy, absolutely crazy.

I often doubt myself and often question, "Is this really where God wants me to be?" but through these stories and other events I really feel like God has been saying, "YES!"

I am slowly but surely getting settled in to my new place. Last night, we welcomed Sarah to our place, who will be staying with us for a couple months on and off. She is working with the same organization as my other roommate Ruthie. We have other guests that come in and out too, but they are a little bit smaller and only come crawling in at night time, and definitely don't receive the same welcome. Well I thought you might like a mini tour of my house, so I included some pictures of my place:

This is my bedroom (note the bed that my wonderful roommate Ruthie surprised me with). Also I am still in the process of looking for a dresser so my clothes don't have to stay folded laying on my floor. 

This is our living room. It's usually a pretty happening place. I'm also thinking of trying to look for something for people to sit on rather than an old mattress. 

This is our kitchen. Again, we're contemplating getting a mini fridge, but we've been fine without one so far, so maybe later.

The hallway in to our apartment. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom. 

Our bathroom where those unwelcome visitors like to show up late at night.